No One's Hero
by Queen Deanna
Summary: Link saves world, but refuses to save it a second time until....READ IT. Angsty with some bitter humor.


Disclaimer: Don't own anything, wish I did -thinks dirty thoughts-cough-hack.   
  
Note: Very angsty. Rated for naughty words, murder, rape, massacre, torture, and drowning kittens. OK maybe not drowning kittens but you get the picture. By the way the Nightmare Soldiers are an army of really nasty other world demons, who feed off pain and enjoy inflicting it. Please R&R but flames will be given to Pippin, my pet rat for proper dousing.  
  
No One's Hero by Queen Deanna  
  
Have you ever just sat somewhere and contemplated everything you've ever done to hurt the ones you care about? Well, that's what I'm doing right now and believe me, with all I've done in my lives, yes plural, I'm going to be here a very long time. Ha! Time, the one thing I don't have to worry about, I have no places to go, no-one to take care of, and no-one to be with. I know I sound like a big bag of fun don't I? Anyway welcome to the Sacred Woods Meadow. My name is Link and long ago this place was special to me and someone I loved very much. But now it's quiet, her laughter no longer fills the air, neither do the leaves and fairies that used to make this a magical forest, not one filled with sorrow. And it's all because of me.  
Although I never knew it until I was around ten-years-old, I was a one chosen by destiny to hold the Triforce of Courage and the Hero of Time. Pretty impressive right, well if you like those titles so much your more than welcome to them. I hated the things I had to do in the name of my duty. I despised the way they made me sick to my stomach, but even more I hated when they didn't. It's hard to look at yourself when your slaughtering of large amounts of other living creatures no longer revolts you. I've even sunk so low to hope for something new to kill because everything else was boring, I was so used to butchering them it was an annoyance, like having to do the dishes after a large meal. When I was young I won the right to carry three magical stones. Of course I always had to do something for the people I got them from first. Funny how no one ever goes "Hey I hear you're risking your butt for a world that never seemed to want you in the first place, let me make some things easy for you." And guess what, after all that they want me to give them to some princess, who I doubt has ever left her nice plush palace because she had a dream about me although she didn't know who I was, and a thunder storm scene. And you know what that automatically means don't you. That means some guy named Ganondorf is going to try to take over the mystical realm of the Goddesses and destroy the world. I felt like telling her just to lay off the pizza and cola before she went to bed.  
And she acted like she had a right to them just because she was the princess. But did she know what it was like to watch the only father figure she had ever had die right in front of her. When she was supposed to be sooooo powerful but couldn't save him. Even though the Deku Tree said that he was doomed before I started I can't help but think that I could have done something, anything. Did she know the feeling of your flesh being burned away from your body, then being pushed into a pit of lava? And afterwards having the hypocrite that sent you to die act like you wanted to go and call you brother. To have to carry some brat around the putrid insides of a giant fish. To run into creatures that pump so much electricity into your body it feels like your blood is boiling and your organs are on fire. No, she knew none of that. She didn't have a clue. Or maybe she did, and that's why she sent a little kid that knew nothing of the strange world outside his home and still grieving over a painful loss to fight for her.  
  
But in the end I thought that if I gave the stones to her, my part in the whole "saving the world plan" would be over. But alas, the man who had started all this attacked the palace just before I went to meet Zelda again. She entrusted me with her family's royal ocarina and taught me the song to open the Door of Time. I realized how serious this was when I met, face-to-face the man…. No the monster that had turned my life upside down. It's funny that I remember all the things I went through, but until that moment I had, for some reason thought, like the guard at the foot of Death Mountain Trail that this was some game. I think I was in shock because it seemed when I had been battling for the spiritual stones that someone else had been fighting, I could feel the pain but it wasn't me. Now all that had changed, Ganondorf was real, the evil was real, and it was standing before me on a black stallion, talking to me, even though I couldn't hear what it was saying.  
  
I think I panicked, later I remembered Ganondorf had asked me where the princess was but I had been so afraid I had pulled my sword. I don't know what I had planned to do with it, attack him, kill him, more than likely get myself killed, I don't remember. I do know I had just wanted to get him away from me, his aura was black and slimy, and left a bad taste in my mouth. He had been stupid enough to think I had stayed silent out of loyalty to the princess…to protect her, but in truth if I had opened my mouth I would have thrown up. Then I would have started screaming and never have stopped.   
  
Eventually I got up the nerve to open the Door of Time. There it was… the Master Sword. But after I pulled it from it's pedestal I knew something was wrong. I had done the opposite of saving the world; I left a welcome mat for Ganondorf in the Sacred Realm. I had doomed the land and people I had been destined to protect. That was the first time.  
  
Over the next couple of months I awakened seven sages, got a horse, and became a legend, not to mention a chick magnet. Not that there were that many chicks around to attract. And did I forget to tell you that in what seemed to me mere minutes, I aged seven years. Guess the hero business does make you old prematurely. Finally the time came for my final battle with Ganondorf, but that's no problem, everyone knows the good guy always wins, right? There I was at my peek, ready to kick some nasty Gerudo ass…Problem. Ganondorf doesn't know the good guy supposed to win…Problem Ganondorf doesn't know with the last of your strength your not supposed to try to crush the hero in the falling ruins of your castle…Biiiiiiig Problem Ganondorf doesn't know once your dead your supposed to stay that way. Your not supposed to transform into an even uglier, nastier bad guy named Ganon. Someone should really write all that stuff down in "A Bad Guys Guide On How To Try To Take Over The World And Fail Miserably."   
  
Finally it was over. It was all over. Zelda approached me and told me to give her the ocarina. I knew what was going to happen, and frankly I was glad, it wasn't all over, it would never happen in the first place. I was done, half dead, and my good half wasn't the living one. Everything would go back to the way it was before and this nightmare would never start. Perfect. Right?  
  
But it wasn't, the things that had happened, I still remembered them. I hated Zelda. When I first started out on my quest I thought she was a foolish child, but she had been right. I had thought she was spoiled and pampered, but later I had to admire her ability to survive as Sheik all those years. I was even attracted to her, but I'd chalk it up to my hormones and her being pretty. But dear Goddesses forgive me; I hated Zelda with a part of me I didn't even think I had. She sent me out there to fight, to die, then sent me back to when it never happened, but she didn't give me the only relief I needed. Relief from the memories and nightmares that had me waking up in a cold sweat screaming.   
  
I became a shade of my former self; lack of sleep can do that to a person. But finally I had to go to bed Saria had been nagging me all week, I could barely keep my eyes open, and I had almost chopped Mido into insy winsy easily disposable pieces three times for annoying me when I was not in the best of moods. I was not happy with what I saw in my dreams. Lightning storm, Ganondorf, Princess Zelda riding with Impa away from the castle. Gee, is it just me or does this look familiar. It was happening again. Why? Then it hit me, Saria didn't remember but I did. Could it be possible that only the ones chosen to carry the Triforce could remember what had happened? Great…. just freakin' great, that means not only did Ganondorf know how to take over the world, he knew how to prevent making the same mistakes that had lead to his demise the last time. Yippee!  
  
Finally the fateful day came. I heard a voice and woke up to find Navi flying over me scowling as usual. I let her drag me through finding my weapons, and leading me to the Great Deku Tree's Meadow. I heard his story, but I knew that he knew that he was one dead tree. But he didn't know that I knew that he knew that whether or not I was successful he would die. Then the question, "Will thee partake this quest?" Suddenly I panicked, I shouted out "NO". Both the Deku Tree and Navi seemed shocked. They tried to tell me it was my destiny, I had to, yada, yada. And I ran. Past Mido and his house. Past the store, Saria's house, my home, the house of the know it all brothers, and into the tunnel that led to Hyrule field. I was gasping for breath; I had just turned down my destiny. I felt certain I could never go back to the village, I was a coward and everyone knew it.  
  
I wondered around Hyrule field, lost even though I knew my way around. Then I came across the stream that ran just to the east of the Market entrance. I had often been to this spot before and I liked camping out here. With the exception of the walking skeletons and ghosts around at night it was peaceful. After a few weeks I decided to stay, I built a house, and within a month it felt like home. That's when the visions came. Apparently in fate's cruel sense of humor even if I wasn't there I would know all the evil things that happened to those I cared about.  
  
In my dreams I saw the Deku Tree grow weaker, but unlike last time, it wasn't a curse, it was a virus that   
affected all the forest. The fairies disappeared, they didn't die, they just…. faded away. Even Navi with all her spirit wasn't able to save herself. Next the children of the forest sickened, their symptoms were terrible, as were their sufferings, but it was over for them soon. The last to go were Saria and Mido of all people. Their deaths were the worst of this set. Ganondorf had sent the virus to weaken any defense present to protect the spiritual stone. Even as powerless as they were Saria and Mido went to protect the Deku Tree from being invaded, by standing guard just inside his mouth. And that would have worked if Ganondorf had been planning to invade, but instead Saria and Mido were trapped inside as Ganondorf's Nightmare Soldiers lit the tree on fire. I can still hear their cries as they burned to death.  
  
I tried going back, I had been chosen to be the hero last time for a reason. I might be a coward but even I couldn't stand around and watch things like the senseless slaughter of the only family I had. That's when I found out that once I had forsaken my role as hero, I couldn't get it back. The power of the Triforce had been taken from me. I was useless. I could only watch in horror as Ganondorf's evil plan played out in my dreams. He was out for three spiritual stones and the Gorons were next.  
  
The Gorons gave in to Ganondorf. Darunia had no choice; his people were starving, so he let Ganondorf have the Goron's Ruby. Too bad for him, Ganondorf never kept his end of the bargain, but instead left them with no ruby, no food, and no hope. I heard their pleas for mercy a long time before that great warrior race succumbed to the grave's unbiased chill.  
  
Finally the Nightmare Soldiers turned their gazes to the Zoras. They tried to force their way to Lord Jabu-Jabu, but the Zoras have never been ones to let outsiders tamper with their gods. It turned out to be their last folly, because someway all their waters are connected, and the Nightmare Soldiers were delighted to see what hundreds of thousands of volts of electricity did to an aquatic race. The smell of that dark victory drifted across the fields all the way to where I had been eating promptly making me sick.  
  
Which brought Ganondorf to the last peace of the puzzle. The Ocarina of Time, held by princess Zelda. By that point a new hero of time had been chosen, who suspiciously looked a lot like me. But it seemed that not for the first time, the Goddesses had chosen wrong. This new hero had a secret; he was already a puppet of Ganondorf. Personally, even though I hated it, I had to admit it was a stroke of genius on Ganondorf's part. When the new hero got to the palace the first thing he did was kill Impa. She didn't suspect a thing. But the move did make sense, take out the guardian and there's no one to protect the princess, not to mention your getting rid a sage to boot. And Zelda was just standing there, at that damn window in her courtyard. I think she was trying to reenact our meeting exactly. And Mr. Hero played his part perfectly, right up until she asked him to look at Ganondorf through the window. Next thing she knew the cold steel of a dagger was being pressed against her throat. She tried to cry out but I guess Ganondorf told his man to make it quick, because in an instant her neck was slashed open and she was choking on blood and pieces of her windpipe.  
  
You could tell by looking at the animals and nature in general the exact moment Ganondorf entered the Sacred Realm. Reality seemed to twist and everything was tainted with an evil. Ganondorf had observed everyone in all the lands and the others chosen by destiny were collected within the day. I don't know how Ganondorf rejoined the three Triforce parts but I image that the process was long and painful, but successful.   
  
Ganondorf had become God.  
  
Nightmare Soldiers roamed the land.  
  
The people in the market had been poisoned and bodies laid everywhere. The people of Kakariko Village had had their spirits torn out and their corpses were rotting in the now double sun that burned everything by day and froze it by night. All except the Cucco girl and the carpenters. She was sent to Ganondorf's personal harem, and they were turned into mindless soldiers. The man that ran all around Hyrule field was found and tortured for fun by the Nightmare Soldiers. The scientist at the Lake Lab was driven insane and found floating in the lake one day. The fishpond's fish died from the poisoned water, so the owner went home one night and put a bullet into his brain. Malon…. dear Malon tried to stand up to Ganondorf and refused to give him Epona, for which she was raped and had her arms, legs, and head tied to five horses who were beaten until they had torn her apart. Ingo, to his credit, tried to stop the raping and was decapitated. Even Ganondorf's people, lead by Nabooru rebelled. She was also raped and left to hang from the walls of the Gerudo Fortress as an example of what happens to traitors  
  
And it was all because of me.   
  
And that's why I'm here, I don't know why Ganondorf hasn't killed me yet but I know he will come soon. But I guess I should go back home and wait to be with my friends.   
*****************  
That night Link had another dream, but this one wasn't filled with suffering, but with peace. The sage of light was doing the last thing he could and giving Link a chance to finally rest. But as Link looked at the faces of his friends, he knew he didn't deserve to be there, and his friends shouldn't be there, at least not yet. So Link pulled back from nirvana and the end, and cried. It was the first time since it had started that he had cried. He knew it wouldn't change anything but he apologized to the almost tangible spirits around him and begged the Goddesses to do something, give him a sign of anything he could do, Triforce or not. Exhausted he fell into a deep sleep, still begging for a second chance.  
  
Link heard a voice ring through his dreams, "Err… how can anyone expect such a lazy boy to save the world. Get up Link, the Great Deku Tree wants to see you. It's a great honor so don't sleep through it." His eyes shot open, "Navi"? He whispered to the shining fairy before him. "Yeah that's me but how did you know my name? She asked still scowling. She was startled when the boy on the bed let out a great laugh. Instead of answering he got up and ran through the door. "Yoo-hoo! Good morning Link", Saria called running to the tree house. Link laughed again and slid down the ladder. When he got to Saria he picked her up and twirled her around. "Hey mister no fairy, what are you so happy about." Link saw Saria stiffen and her eyes flash with anger. But instead of reacting to the comment Link embraced the person who had tormented him all his life. Saria and Mido just looked at him shocked. Navi reminded him he still had to go to the Deku Tree.  
**********  
Link stood up from sitting on the grass. He had gotten his weapons and listened to the Great Deku Tree's story again. "So will thee partake this quest", the Deku Tree boomed. Link looked around at the life and joy in the forest. He knew the things he would have to do would torment his dreams and he would suffer pain that no one else could imagine. But even when he had not, he lost everyone dear to him and suffered in a different sometimes worse way. Slowly he nodded and the Deku Tree opened his mouth. Link ran through and ran to his destiny.  



End file.
